Cats split bill, tough road ahead for playoff berth

The Columbia Falls boys soccer team avenged an earlier conference loss to Bigfork last week but lost a crucial game to Libby on the road.

The Wildcats downed Bigfork 3-1 on Oct. 8 after the two teams played to a draw at the half. Jackson Barta broke the scoring drought at the 7-minute mark of the second half to put the Cats up 1-0.

Quentin Foust scored 11 minutes later to make it 2-0. Bigfork answered with a goal at the 63-minute mark, but an “own goal” on Bigfork doomed the Vikings’ hopes of a comeback.

At Libby, it was another draw at the half. Logger Cody Wood scored three minutes into the second stanza, and the Cats responded 15 minutes later with a shot by Keenan Jessat to tie things up.

But Libby responded two minutes later with a strike by Bohdan Yakovenko to take the lead and hold on for the win. Coach Peter Browne was disappointed by the loss.

“Hopefully we haven’t shot ourselves in the foot,” Browne said of the Cats’ playoff hopes. “Dropping the game to Libby didn’t do us any favors. We’re underachieving for some reason.”

The Cats are now 2-2-1 in league play and 4-4-1 overall. The top three teams in the conference make the playoffs. The Cats played Polson away Tuesday after presstime.

They face Whitefish away Thursday and Libby at home next Tuesday, Oct. 15. Their best bet for the playoffs would be to win out, as Bigfork and Libby both have an edge right now.

The Loggers are second in the conference with a 3-1-2 record, and the Vikings are third at 3-3-1.

Columbia Falls 0 3 – 3

Bigfork 0 1 – 1

CF – Jackson Barta (Casey Burghduff), 47:00

CF – Quentin Foust (Burghduff), 58:00

BF – Kyle Thomson (Kegan Driver), 63:00

CF – Bigfork own goal, 66:00

Shots on goal – Bigfork 10, Columbia Falls 6. Saves – Bigfork 6 (Dillon Hilling), Columbia Falls 6 (Mason Gedlaman). Corner kicks – Bigfork 5, Columbia Falls 7. Fouls – Bigfork 7, Columbia Falls 5. Cards – none.

C. Falls 0 1 – 1

Libby 0 2 – 2

L – Cody Wood, 43:00

C – Keenan Jessat, 58:00

L – Bohdan Yakovenko (Jason Schnackenberg, 60:00

Shots on goal – C. Falls 12, Libby 12. Corner kicks – C. Falls 6, Libby 13. Saves – C. Falls (Mason Gedlaman 10), Libby (Jacob Wood 11). Total fouls – C. Falls 5, Libby 7. Yellow cards – none. Red cards – none.